21 Mar 95: Building a Zero-Waste Apparel Brand And Business With Rachel Faller of tonlé

What does it take to create a zero-waste apparel brand? Spend a few minutes thinking about it. Even for the most ethical brands out there, whittling away at your production process to eliminate waste until even the little tiny pieces of thread that come off the sewing machines are reused would seem to be both logistically nightmarish and ridiculously impractical. But the thing is, as utterly unreasonable as it sounds, going zero waste is possible – and not only that – it can become a core business principle.

You’ll hear how Rachel’s company slowly eliminated waste from its production process over years of experimentation, and how this artist-turned-entrepreneur has built a slow fashion brand that now counts a team of 50, multiple retail locations and an international following that embraces its easy-going style, sustainable sensibilities and relatively accessible price point.

Listen to the episode for Rachel’s unexpected advice to aspiring fashion designers and her thoughtful take on the complex and hard-to-parse cultural and economic issues that lie underneath well-intentioned brands that market themselves as bettering the lives of women through the merchandise they sell. Plus, her favorite scheduling tool.

This episode brought to by PressDope, the affordable alternative to traditional PR and media relations made with care for socially-responsible fashion brands by the Spirit of 608.

<3 <3 <3 Oh hey there! Please help the podcast out and leave us a rating and review on iTunes.

This stuff is key to the show’s success, and I appreciate you helping me play the game. <3 <3 <3

HOW TO LISTEN:

Listen online: Just press play above or subscribe via RSS to receive all new episodes.